


Catch Me When I Fall

by bisexualoftheblade



Series: Falling [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dark, Angst, Battle for the Cowl, Blood and Violence, Character Death, Evil Tim Drake, Gen, Implied/Referenced Suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:06:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26203138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bisexualoftheblade/pseuds/bisexualoftheblade
Summary: What would have happened if Tim Drake had chosen to take Jason Todd’s offer to be his Robin during the Battle for the Cowl?A prologue for the Falling seriesA gift for @MiniNaCl in response to this ask game on Tumblr!https://bisexualoftheblade.tumblr.com/post/623379148665143296/send-me-a-made-up-fic-title-and-ill-tell-you-what
Series: Falling [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1939384
Comments: 25
Kudos: 65





	Catch Me When I Fall

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MiniNaCl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiniNaCl/gifts).



In the end, it hadn’t been difficult for Tim to say yes to Jason. After all, Bruce had been his hero. And yes, heroes can give you the motivation to be better, but they can also mislead you. For you see, Bruce had been Tim’s last tether to the light. And when that tether was cut? All that Tim had left was a world of violence and war that wanted to bury him alive.

And Tim was lost.

Tim was lost: no more family, no more purpose, no more heroes. All that was left for him was a lifetime spent drowning in pain, and it wouldn’t even be a long one at that. So when Jason came looking for him? It was an easy choice. 

Tim knows this isn’t the Jason he used to idolize. It was impossible to mistake the two, but it was someone who wanted, who _needed_ him. And that is all he wanted anymore. 

And so the two of them became known as The Reds: the scourge of Gotham. 

_(They hadn’t chosen their name, but it turns out that blood doesn’t wash off as easy as it used to, and their slowly dripping capes became a warning sign to all.)_

The two of them were each deadly on their own, with Jason’s brute force a well known scourge of the criminal elements of Gotham, and Tim’s intelligence subtly ripping apart the city from the inside. When the two of them worked together? It was no surprise the remaining Bats fell so quickly.

Taking down the rest of the Bats had been easier than they thought in the end.

Dick Grayson was first. After all, take away the one thing left holding them together, and the rest fall like dominoes. It hadn’t taken much in the end. It turns out that there were plenty of recordings left of Jason’s death, and sneaking into Dick’s apartment was easier than expected. Simply place a few tape recorders in the right places, and allow the music of Jason’s dying screams to lull Dick to sleep.

It only took a week for Dick to snap.

After Dick was gone, the rest of the family began to disintegrate.

_(Can you even call it a family? They were only toy soldiers playing pretend in the end.)_

Damian Wayne was the next to fall. Without Dick there to guide him, he began to slip into rages, becoming clumsy. It wasn’t hard to catch him unawares on patrol one night.

_(The death of the one blood Robin is what truly sealed The Reds place in the pecking order, for now their capes were drenched in the blood of Batman’s kin)_

Cassandra Cain had always been one of the most intelligent of them all. She saw the warning signs, watched the others fall, and she made a choice. Killing was in her blood after all, and blood is exactly what The Reds dealt in.

_(The Shadow was one of the most feared members of their deadly trio, for you never saw her coming)_

And so, The Reds ruled Gotham with an iron fist: their loyal Shadow ever by their side, Gotham’s streets running red with blood. Barbara Gordon tried to stop them, stepping forward to offer her services to the police. In the end, it was a random mugger who killed her.

_(Even the great Oracle couldn’t predict such an end)_

Stephanie Brown was the final survivor. In the end, it appeared as if her former relationship with Tim had saved her, but she knew better, for her survival came with a cost. And so, Spoiler roamed Gotham, appearing late at night to sing to children, to warn them of the cost of defying The Reds.

_(Let the blood drip down your arms, stay inside, and stay quiet. Behave, and hope The Reds don’t get you. Behave, and hope to live in a blood stained city for a little bit longer.)_


End file.
